This invention deals with fat and oil replacements in human foods. Scientists from many sectors are spending a great deal of their time trying to develop materials that can be introduced into the human food chain. These materials are being developed in response to numerous investigations and reports regarding human consumption, and the impact of such consumption, of natural fats and oils by the human population.
These investigations and reports have documented and established that certain, widely consumed, fats and oils are detrimental to human health and should be removed from or severely reduced in human diets.
The edible fats and oils in the food we eat are widely distributed in nature. They are derived from vegetable, animal and marine sources and are often by-products in the production of vegetable proteins and the like. Fats and oils have been extracted and used for centuries as soaps, detergents, raw materials, antifoams, lubricants, food and fuels.
The chemical structures of fats are very complex owing to the many combinations and permutations of fatty acids that can be esterified at the three hydroxyl groups of glycerol. These materials, generically known as triglycerides, are named according to the parent acids that are used to esterify the glycerol. For example, ##STR1##
Many naturally occurring fats and oils are made up of fatty acids with chain lengths greater than twelve carbon atoms. A vast majority of such fats and oils are made up of chain lengths of sixteen carbons or greater. Most of the variable chemical and physical properties result from the effects of the various fatty acids esterified with glycerol.
Diets that are high in red meats lead to the ingestion of large quantities of saturated fats and generally, vegetable oils are a source of polyunsaturated fats and oils, such polyunsaturated fats and oils being modified by hydrogenation to provide commercial food products which are monounsaturated and saturated fats and oils. Investigators have strongly urged a direct link between high intake of monounsaturated fats and saturated fats and cardiovascular diseases and certain human cancers.
One report has suggested an "alarming" change in the diets of the affluent portion of the world in which per capita dietary fat intake has increased to an all time high, mostly in the form of saturated fats from red meat and, the greater portion from the modified fats and oils known as the "separated" fats and oils such as margarine, vegetable oils, shortenings, salad oils, cooking oils, and the like. The ingestion of these fats and oils raises blood cholesterol levels which leads to some of the cardiovascular diseases alluded to supra.
In addition to the problems discussed above, there is the very serious health problem of obesity itself. Part of the program to relieve or avoid obesity is to provide dietary foods which are low in calories and since the fats and oils described above provide a major, and largely discretionary source of calories, it would be beneficial if the fats and oils could be replaced with low calorie or no calorie substitutes. This obesity problem extrapolates directly to persons who aren't really clinically/technically obese but who are "overweight" and also to those who aren't overweight but desire to attain and maintain the "slim look". To these people, low calorie or no calorie fats and oils would also be desirable.
Attaining a low calorie or no calorie food is not an easy task. Currently, there is not a low calorie fat and oil commercially available. Typically, low calorie or diet foods are obtained by reducing the sugar content or essentially eliminating the sugar and using artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame, cyclamates, L-sugars and the like.
Substitute fats and oils have been described by Hamm, D. J., Journal of Food Science, vol. 49 (1984) page 419, as trialkoxytricarballylate, trialkoxycitrate, trialkoxyglycerylether, Jojoba oil and sucrose polyester, the latter material currently being the oil of choice. Sucrose polyester has been described by Jandacek, Ronald J., et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 33, February (1980) page 251, as a mixture of hexa-, hepta-, and octaesters of sucrose, which is prepared by esterifying sucrose with long chain fatty acids.
Desirable features in would-be substitute oils and fats are: a) resistance to digestion (to achieve the low calorie or no calorie effect); b) the anticholesterol effects; c) chemical and biological inertness; d) thermal stability, especially high thermal stability for cooking uses; e) other functional and physical properties comparable to or superior to natural fats and oils, especially in terms of end use such as, for example, lending texture to cakes, enhancing flavors, enhancing taste, or at least not contributing to undesirable taste, consistency, and so forth. The substitute fats and oils should not have a strong laxative effect such as is known in some of the natural fats and oils; should not degrade under high heat, such as thermal oxidation during deep frying; should not degrade under biological conditions in the body, for example should not degrade to long chain alcohols or some other cytotoxic chemicals and, the substitute fats and oils should be fairly inexpensive because not only should the food item prepared with the substitute fat or oil have organoleptic acceptability but it must be affordable.
The compositions of this invention provide a means for resolving the aforementioned problems, in that, the incorporation of certain silicones as substitutes for fat and oils, the use of certain silicones as edible food products, and the use of certain silicones in the preparation of foods, where the intent is to ingest the silicones as a significant portion of the diet, resolves many of the aforementioned problems without detracting from the bulk of the diet. This can be accomplished while maintaining, and in some cases, enhancing the organoleptic properties of the food without the commensurate potential calorie problems associated with natural fats and oils or some of the newer, synthetic, organic candidate fat and oil substitutes.
Numerous studies in various animal species (rats, mice, rabbits, dogs and monkeys) have established the safety and essentially innocuous nature of polydimethylsiloxanes and related silicones. Studies with C-14 labeled materials have shown that adequately devolatilized silicone polymers are not absorbed from the gastro-intestinal tract, and that such materials are eliminated in the fecal contents.
Additional evidence of recent rat-feeding studies is provided by Hashim et al., "Effect of Phenylmethylsiloxanes, A Potential Non-Caloric Fat Substitute On Body Composition Of Obese Zucker Rats", Bracco, E. F., Baba, N. and Hashim, S. A, Dept. of Medicine, St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, N.Y., who have shown that significant loss of weight can be obtained by diluting a conventional low fat rat chow with a commercial phenylmethylsiloxane. They observed good acceptance when fed ad libitum, apparent satiety as evidenced by the absence of significant compensation by over-eating, and no evidence of adverse physiological effects such as excessive anal leakage/diarrhea or damage to intestinal mucosae even when the diet contained up to 22 weight percent of the phenylmethylsiloxane.
Consequently, polydimethylsiloxanes have been widely used for applications involving food processing and food contact. These applications, which have included release coatings, defoaming, anti-oxidant, etc., have resulted in foods containing at most parts per million levels of silicone.
A book written by Weiss, T. J., Food Oils and Their Uses, [AVI Publishing Co., Inc., Westport, Conn., 1983, on page 112,] reviews articles suggesting various ppm uses for silicones in association with food. Under the section entitled "Antifoam Agents", Weiss disclosed that Babyan had shown that the presence of small amounts i.e. ppm quantities, of silicone oil in deep frying oil increased the smoke point of the oil by about 14.degree. C. (25.degree. F.) and that silicones (in 0.5 to 3 ppm quantities) when added to frying fats inhibit foam formation. It was further speculated in the reviewed articles that larger quantities of such silicone oils (50-100 ppm) may even cause foaming of the frying fat where it is not ordinarily expected. The suggestion is also presented there that the silicone antifoams may be deleterious in cakes, in frying doughnuts and in manufacturing potato chips, all in an antifoaming, i.e. ppm, context. Thus, it would appear rather dubious from Weiss's reasoning that silicones could be very useful in foods at the pph levels.
Certain other non-silicone low calorie fat substitutes have been disclosed in the prior art in U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,186, issued Aug. 17, 1971 to Mattson, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,954,976, issued May 4, 1976 to Mattson, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,196, issued Jan. 25, 1977 to Jandacek, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,083, issued Jul. 5, 1977 to Mattson and, U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,782, issued Jul. 24, 1984 to Robbins, et al.
None of these references, either singly or in combination, show or even suggest the compositions of this invention.